Lily's Letter
by Healer Pomfrey
Summary: Whilst cleaning the attic, six-year-old Harry Potter finds a letter from his mother. How will this change his further life? COMPLETELY AU, slight Dumbledore bashing.


**Lily's Letter**  
><strong>by Healer Pomfrey<strong>

_All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.  
>I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.<em>

* * *

><p>Six-year-old Harry Potter slowly made his way upstairs. Before the Dursleys had left for a weekend trip earlier this very morning, his aunt had handed him a long list with chores that had to be finished before her return. One of the chores was the cleaning of the attic, and, seeing that it was raining cats and dogs outside, Harry decided to begin with this. Never before had he been allowed to set as much as a foot inside the attic, which made him very curious about what to expect in the room, which turned out to be the brightest room in the whole house.<p>

_'It would be so cool if I was allowed to live here instead of the cupboard under the stairs,'_ Harry thought, as he explored the room, which was full with boxes and old furniture. He curiously looked into the boxes, thinking, _'Maybe I find a book like that old gardening book, which I managed to grab out of the garbage.'_

It was not exactly a book, but a large envelope that finally caught his interest - not because of its size or colour, but simply because his name was written on it.

_'To my baby Harry Potter'_ it said in a clear hand writing. _'To my baby?'_ Harry read in surprise. _'Is that from my mummy?'_ He hesitantly opened the envelope. In fact, it was not a real envelope, more like a package, but it looked like one. Inside, he found four items: A book, a small bag, a long stick and a folded parchment. _'To Harry'_ was written on the outside of the parchment.

_'For me,'_ Harry thought in disbelief. _'All these items are for me.'_ Feeling slightly uncertain in the room to which he was not used, he grabbed the four items and returned to his cupboard, where he closely examined his new treasures.

First of all, he unfolded the parchment, which turned out to be a letter, and began to read in never experienced excitement.

_'My dear Harry,'_ it said.

_'If you're reading this, it means that your father and I are dead. I am a Seer, and I know that we're going to die very soon. That's why I give this letter along with my diary, my wand and a small bag with money to my best friend, Severus. I'll ask him to see to it that you receive these items, when you're able to read at the latest._

_Uncle Sirius and Aunt Alice are your godparents, and I hope that you'll end up living with one of them. If that's not possible for some reason, I'd like you to grow up with either Minerva McGonagall or Severus Snape. Under no circumstances are you to be taken to my horrible sister Petunia. I have made this very clear in my will, but due to a vision, I am not sure if my will is going to be respected._

_If for some reason, you end up either alone or with my sister, call Sunny, our house-elf, or Gina, the head house-elf of Potter Manor, and ask them to take you back home and raise you or help you contact Professor McGonagall or Severus Snape._

_I wish you a very happy life, and please know that I love you more than anything else._

_Your mother Lily'_

Harry stared at the letter in disbelief and read it again and even a third time, before he let the parchment sink.

"Sunny," he called out, tentatively, jerking back in fright when a small creature popped up right in front of him.

"Hello Master Harry," Sunny said, lightly bowing. "Sunny is very happy to seeing Master Harry."

"Hello Sunny, I'm just Harry," Harry replied in confusion. "I found a letter from my mummy," he explained and handed the letter to the elf, who was smiling broadly at him.

Sunny read the letter with apparent interest, before she queried, "Does Master Harry want Sunny to take you to the Potter house to live there or to Potter Manor?"

"I don't know," Harry replied in a small voice, before he apologized, "I'm sorry to be such a burden."

Sunny's eyes widened. "Yous is not a burden, Master Harry. Sunny is very happy to have little Master Harry back. I don't knows if the house is good because it is partly broken. But Sunny wills take yous there to look first. Does Master Harry have any belongings to take with him?"

Harry shook his head, deciding to leave his baby blanket, his only possession, there, so that it wouldn't look as if he had left for good. He merely took his letter, the book, the small bag with money and his mother's wand into his hands.

Slightly anxiously, he allowed Sunny to take his arm in a firm grip, and all of a sudden, the elf popped away with him.

HP

When Harry's vision returned, he found himself in what seemed to be a living room. He could see a staircase leading to the second floor. However, the staircase was to a great part destroyed, and so was the second floor, to which Sunny took him after showing him the first floor.

Harry found the house very interesting. There were paintings on the walls, and the people in the paintings were moving and talking to him. However, the second floor was even better. Memory set in as he entered the nursery. _'My Tapp,'_ he realised in delight upon seeing his old teddy lying in the intact crib.

"May I have it?" he hesitantly asked the elf, who shot him a broad smile.

"Of course Master Harry. Everything in this house belongs to yous," she explained, gently.

Harry also looked at some baby books and hugged a couple of other stuffed animals, feeling happier than he had ever felt before. Back downstairs in the living room, he stared at the huge bookshelf in amazement. "This house is absolutely cool," he blurted out.

"Yes, but Sunny must ask the house-elves from Potter Manor to come and help repairing this house. Otherwise it will be too dangerous for Master Harry," Sunny replied. "Does Master Harry want some lunch?"

Harry agreed and offered that he could cook lunch for the two of them. However, Sunny declined and instructed him to just take a seat at the kitchen table. Harry obeyed, gently cuddling his Tapp, while he prepared himself to wait for a while. He was very much surprised when after not more than a few minutes, a complete meal popped up on the table.

If he had expected the elf to dine together with him, he was surprised when she instructed him to eat as much as he wanted, while she'd go and try to repair the house with the help of the other elves.

Harry could not believe his luck. _'I'm allowed to sit at the table and eat, as much as I want at that,'_ he thought and hesitantly took a bit of everything onto his plate, only to notice that it was absolutely delicious.

_'Sunny cooks much better than Aunt Petunia or me,'_ he thought in amazement. _'How am I going to earn my keep though?'_ he wondered.

As soon as Sunny returned to the kitchen, Harry asked the elf, causing her to stare at him in disbelief.

"Master Harry does not needs to do anything," she informed him. "Sunny is here to do everything for Master Harry, and if Sunny needs to buy food or other things for Master Harry, the money will be takens from the Potter vaults. Master Harry needs not to worry."

With that she led him through the repaired house and showed him the children's room, into which the elves had turned the former nursery, and the bedroom that had been Lily's and James' bedroom before.

"Thank you very much," Harry said, gratefully and, after receiving a comforting nod from Sunny, busied himself checking the bookshelves in the living room. However, all of a sudden, a thought crossed his mind, and he hurried upstairs into his room, where he had left the items, which he had received from his mother. _'I'm going to read what mummy wrote first,'_ he resolved.

_'1.9.1971. Today, we finally arrived at Hogwarts. I am a Gryffindor, but Severus has been sorted into Slytherin. I just hope that we can remain friends in spite of being in two different hourses. Oh well, at least I don't have to see Petunia now for ten months. Ever since I received my Hogwarts letter, she really has been annoying. I understand that she's jealous because she's not magical like Severus and me, but still.'_

Harry continued to read his mother's diary in amazement. _'They do freakish things like me,'_ he realised after reading a few entries about Lily's first classes.

HP

During the weekend, Sunny allowed him to read and play with the toys in his room as much as he wanted. However, on Monday morning, she made him remain at the kitchen table after breakfast and informed him, "From Monday till Friday, Sunny wills teach Master Harry primary school knowledge and a little magic."

Harry looked up in delight. "Yes please, Sunny," he replied, feeling very happy at the prospect of being able to study without nasty children like Dudley around.

Harry was absolutely thrilled, when Sunny taught him Maths, made him practise writing for a while and finally allowed him to learn some easy spells.

"Master Harry cans either just do magic with your hands or use your mother's wand," Sunny told him, making him try out both, so that he could decide by himself which was the better way for him.

Harry was not sure. Although it was less tiring to use his mother's wand, it was more fun to cast the Lumos charm making the tip of his forefinger become bright than the tip of the wand.

"You don't have to decide now," Sunny told him, smiling. "It is very useful when you can do magic without a wand though. On the other hand, at Hogwarts, you will have to use a wand, so it is good if you gets used to both."

HP

While Harry thoroughly enjoyed himself, still unable to believe his luck, an alarm went off in the headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

"The blood wards around the Dursleys' residence are coming down," Dumbledore spoke up in concern.

"Will little Harry be all right?" Professor Sprout was the first to enquire, while McGonagall contented herself to glare at the headmaster.

"I hope so," Dumbledore replied, thoughtfully, before he turned to his Potions Master. "Severus, will you please travel to the Dursleys' and make sure that everything is fine?"

After throwing a temper tantrum about going to check on a 'Potter', the Potions Master finally complied, only to return with the news that he pampered boy had gone missing.

"Petunia told me that he was gone, when she came back from a weekend trip, without doing any of his chores. Probably he didn't feel pampered enough, the brat," he added, grimly.

"Severus!" McGonagall admonished him sharply.

"Well, that must be the reason why the blood wards have come down," Dumbledore replied, thoughtfully, completely ignoring his deputy's outburst. He leaned into the fireplace and called Arabella Figg, who stepped out of the fireplace an instant later.

"Albus, I don't have a clue, where little Harry might have gone," she informed the headmaster, before she told him frankly, "I warned you though. The Dursleys treated him worse than a house-elf. They neglected and abused him, but you forbade me to interfere. I wonder if the child is even still alive."

"He must be alive, otherwise, a different alarm would have alerted me," Dumbledore replied, tiredly, before he proceeded to question the Squib about the boy's life in order to find possible clues as to where he might have gone. However, since the boy did not have any friends nor was he aware of magic, Mrs. Figg's information did not really help.

Knowing that his colleagues were much too upset at him to offer any possible assistance, Dumbledore decided that from this day onwards, he was going to spend much time in the Muggle world in order to search for one little boy.

HP

Harry soon became used to his new and absolutely wonderful life. Sunny was like the mother that he could not remember having before. She had been Lily's and James' house-elf since before Harry had been born, and she loved the boy dearly. She taught him many useful things, even in addition to his usual classes, like Flying, the brewing of potions or the elves' way of popping themselves around. She had cast a charm at the Potter house, so that it still looked like a ruin from outside, even if it was perfectly repaired and renovated from the inside. Sunny even patiently nursed Harry back to health when he was sick, which unfortunately happened every other week, resulting from the complete neglect of his health at his relatives' house.

On Harry's eighth's birthday, he received a letter from Professor McGonagall. After checking the owl for possible spells and charms, of which she found none whatsoever, Sunny handed Harry the letter.

_'Dear Harry,_

_You won't remember me, but I was a good friend of your parents and often baby-sat you when you were a baby. I am very worried about you and wondering where you are. Please tell me if everything is all right. I'm looking forward to meeting you when you come to Hogwarts at the latest._

_Minerva McGonagall_

_P.S. I wish you a very Happy Birthday!'_

Harry smiled. In her diary, his mother had always spoken very highly of the professor, who had been her head of house, and he instinctively knew that the old witch was asking out of genuine concern for him. After showing the letter to Sunny and receiving a comforting nod in return, he set to write a response.

_'Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_Thank you for your letter. I am fine and enjoy myself. My life is much better than it was at the Dursleys'. I am also looking forward to meeting you._

_Yours sincerely_

_Harry Potter'_

"Is that okay?" he queried, showing his letter to Sunny.

"Yes, that's fine," the elf replied, smiling.

"Should I give it to the owl or just pop myself to Hogwarts and hand over my letter?" Harry asked, causing the elf to laugh.

"No dear, you don't want any human to know that you're capable of elf apparition," Sunny replied in a firm voice. "Give your letter to the owl. See, it's waiting for your response anyway."

HP

It was two years later, on a beautiful summer day, when Harry was just brewing a potion in the small potions lab, that Sunny saw Professor Dumbledore approach the house.

She popped into the lab, banished Harry's half-finished potion and cleaned the lab in a blink, before she gripped Harry's arm and popped them to Potter Manor.

When they arrived in what seemed to be a large hall - the biggest room that Harry could remember to have ever seen, a dozen house-elves, who were all wearing house-elf suits decorated with the Potter crest, popped up around Harry and Sunny and greeted them with apparent enthusiasm.

"Welcome to Potter Manor, Master Harry," one of the elves spoke up, who introduced herself as Gina, the head house-elf of Potter Manor.

"Thank you," Harry replied, shyly, "and please just call me Harry."

"Harry, I'm sorry, but Professor Dumbledore was just about to enter our house, which is why I brought you to Potter Manor" Sunny explained. "I'll quickly go and fetch your most important belongings," she told the boy and popped away.

Gina introduced the other elves to Harry, before she instructed Sunny, who just returned with Harry's belongings, to give Harry a tour through the Manor, while the elves would prepare everything for Harry to live in the Manor with them.

Sunny showed Harry to the library, the potions lab, the defence practice room, the recreation room and was just about to let the excited child take a look at the garden, when Gina popped up in front of them and announced that lunch had been served in the dining room.

HP

If Harry had thought that the Potter house was the most brilliant house ever, he was totally in awe with Potter Manor. It was as large as he imagined a castle to be, the potions lab had about three times the size of that at the Potter House, and the library was enormous. However, the biggest surprise for the almost ten-year-old was waiting in the dining room.

When he obediently sat down at the large table, his view fell onto a life size painting of a young couple.

"Hello Harry," the woman in the painting spoke up with apparent enthusiasm. "I'm so happy that you got around to come here. You might not recognise me, but I'm your mum, and here next to me is your father."

Unable to take his eyes from the portrait, Harry spent the rest of the day speaking with his parents. He told them everything from his upbringing at the Dursleys', how he had found his mother's letter to his life at the Potter house together with Sunny, and his parents listened patiently.

Only when Harry was finished, his father James spoke up, sounding very upset. "Harry, do you by chance know who placed you with the Dursleys against our wish?"

"I have no idea," Harry replied in a small voice.

"Gina!" James called out to the head house-elf. "Please go and find Sirius Black or Remus Lupin and ask them to come here and speak with me. I wish to know what happened, and I'd appreciate it if either of them could live here with Harry to properly prepare him for Hogwarts. Even if I'm sure that Sunny so far did a great job," he added as an afterthought.

HP

"Of course Master James," Gina replied and popped away, only to return thirty minutes later with Remus Lupin in tow.

Harry quietly listened to the adults' conversation, which lasted until far after dinner and had the result that Remus Lupin was going to live at Potter Manor together with Harry.

"The only problem is my furry problem," Remus said, quietly.

However, Sunny, who had just popped up in order to make Harry go to bed, replied in a soft voice. "Master Harry is very good at brewing, Master Remus. He wills be able to brew the Wolfsbane potion for you every month."

If Harry had already been delighted to be able to speak with his parents and to have one of their best friends living together with him in the large Manor, he was over the moon with joy hearing that there was something that he could actually do to help the nice wizard.

"Yes, I love to brew," he confirmed, smiling.

HP

Just a few days later, it was Harry's tenth birthday, and like every year, Harry received a letter from Professor McGonagall for his birthday.

_'Dear Harry,_

_Happy Birthday my boy! I hope everything is still well. Now only one year is left, before you'll be able to come to Hogwarts. I'm very much looking forward to having you here. _

_By the way, Professor Dumbledore is still searching for you all over the Muggle world. I wished you would not feel it necessary to live in hiding, but I'm just happy that you seem to have a better life than with your relatives._

_Best regards from Hogwarts_

_Minerva McGonagall'_

"Are you sure that you wish to attend Hogwarts at all?" James queried, seemingly upset. "As long as Dumbledore is the headmaster, I'd think about it. Remus and the elves will be equally able to teach you everything that you need in order to take your OWLs and NEWTs."

"That's true," Remus agreed, thoughtfully.

However, Lily contradicted firmly. "That might be true, however, I believe that it's very important for Harry to come into contact with other children of his age, not only with adults, elves and portraits."

Harry smirked, as he reached for his quill.

_'Dear Professor McGonagall,_

_thank you very much for the birthday greetings. Yes, everything is fine here. I am sorry for hiding, but I do not trust the headmaster, since he was the one who placed me with my horrible relatives against my parents' explicite wishes. As long as he is the headmaster, I am not sure if I want to attend Hogwarts. I will think about it._

_Yours sincerely _

_Harry Potter'_

He showed Sunny his letter, who magically corrected one mistake, before she nodded her concurrence.

"Very well written, Harry," Remus agreed as well, and Harry happily sent his letter with the school owl that was waiting in front of the window.

HP

During the following year, not only Sunny continued teaching Harry, but also Remus as well as Lily and James from their portrait instructed Harry in various subjects. Under Sunny's supervision, Harry once a month brewed the Wolfsbane potion for Remus, who was very grateful and happier than he had ever been before.

By the time Harry received his Hogwarts letter, he was still not really convinced if it would be a good idea to attend Hogwarts, considering that he was outright happy with his current life. However, his mother did her best to try convincing him to attend the magical school.

Instead of replying to his Hogwarts letter, Harry choose the opportunity of responding to Professor McGonagall's traditional birthday letter and informed the deputy headmistress that he was going to attend Hogwarts in spite of his distrust towards the headmaster.

HP

On the last day before he was supposed to travel to Hogwarts, Harry agreed with Sunny that she would take him to King's Cross, where he would board the Hogwarts Express.

In the morning, however, Harry woke up feeling very ill with a sore body and a very high fever, and after giving him potions and checking on him every now and then, the elves decided that Harry was in no condition to go to the school.

"I'll floo call Professor McGonagall," Remus offered, however, he was unable to reach the Gryffindor head in her office, whenever he tried to contact her through the fireplace.

"Mum, Dad, will they still accept me at Hogwarts even if I miss the Sorting?" Harry enquired, when the elves grudgingly allowed him out of bed for dinner.

"Sure my dear, just try to get well as quickly as you can, and then one of the elves will take you to Hogwarts," Lily replied, soothingly.

"I'll try to contact Minerva again later tonight, when the welcoming feast will be over," Remus promised.

HP

At the same time at Hogwarts, the Sorting of the new students took place. However, when Professor McGonagall called the students from her list, one of the supposed-to-be first years turned out to be missing.

"Just continue," the headmaster instructed his deputy, who obeyed and finished the Sorting, wondering where little Harry might be.

_'I'll write to him later on. So far he has always replied to my letters,'_ she thought, as she made herself comfortable at the high table, just when the headmaster rose from his chair to greet the students.

"Dear students, welcome back for another year at Hogwarts. For this year, we're going to have a small personal change, as I am going to retire as headmaster as of tonight. From tonight onwards, Professor McGonagall will be the new headmistress."

"What?" Minerva hissed at her oldest friend. "You can't do such a thing."

"I can and I will, Minerva," Dumbledore replied, gently. "It's my fault that Harry Potter is missing. It's only natural that I take the responsibility and retire." With that he once again rose from his chair and left the Great Hall that remained unnaturally quiet.

HP

Harry had just finished a small portion of dinner, when a bright flash lit the room, and a phoenix landed on the back of the chair next to him.

#Hello little nestling,# the bird addressed him. #I am Fawkes, and I've just bonded with you. So far, I've been the familiar of Albus Dumbledore, but he turned out to be not as pure as someone should be in order to have a phoenix familiar. Since he left Hogwarts tonight, I decided to bond to you.#

"Thank you Fawkes," Harry replied in amazement and translated for Remus and his parents what the phoenix had told him.

"Dumbledore retired?" James asked, crisply, causing Fawkes to pleasantly nod his head.

"Harry, send Fawkes to Professor McGonagall and ask her to contact you here," Lily instructed her son, who immediately scribbled a short note to the new headmistress and sent Fawkes to Hogwarts.

An instant later, the phoenix returned. #Minnie-know-it-all will contact you right after the welcoming feast# he informed the boy.

HP

It was almost two hours later that Remus accepted Professor McGonagall's floo call in the entrance hall. He invited the professor to step through, and the surprised witch followed the invitation.

"It's good to see you, Remus," she said, gently. "I don't have much time though, since I all of a sudden find myself as the headmistress."

"Congratulations," Remus said, smirking, and led his former teacher into the dining room, where Harry was still waiting together with his parents."

Witnessing how his parents enthusiastically greeted the professor, Harry apologized for not being able to travel to the school on time.

"That's not a problem, dear," McGonagall replied, gently. "We can still sort you as soon as you're well enough to travel."

"I'm fine now," Harry said, feeling very uncomfortable. "But it's too late anyway now, is it?"

"No Harry, if you want, you can come with me right away," McGonagall promised. "Travelling through the Floo is not as strenuous as the long train ride, and Madam Pomfrey will be able to care for you."

Seeing Lily and James nod their agreement, McGonagall turned to Remus. "Would you perhaps be willing to become our new Transfiguration professor?" she asked in a soft voice. "I can ask Severus Snape to brew the Wolfsbane potion for you if..."

"Thank you, Minerva," Remus interrupted the old witch, smiling. "I gladly accept the position, however, Harry has already been brewing the Wolfsbane for me for more than a year, and I trust that he'll be able and allowed to continue brewing it for me at Hogwarts?"

"Definitely," McGonagall promised, seemingly relieved. "Thank you very much for accepting on such a short notice. I'll leave all my notes and lesson plans to you, and of course on the day after the full moon, I will take over for you."

HP

An hour and several more discussions later, Harry stepped into the fireplace after the new headmistress and the new Transfiguration professor, feeling very happy to have Remus, who was now officially his guardian in the magical and the Muggle world, and Sunny, who promised to always invisibly stay close to him, at Hogwarts with him. _'I don't care in which house I'm going to be sorted,'_ he though, as he stepped out of the fireplace in the headmistress' office. _'I can make myself invisible and pop everywhere anyway. Thank Merlin I read my Mum's letter at that time.'_

**The End**


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